in Golf Articles

Furyk top dog

November is now here, which means the golf season is almost ready to hit the 19th tee for a chilly beverage.

But first, the Tour Championship tees off Thursday at the historic East Lake Golf Club down in the southern Georgia climes of Atlanta. Twenty-seven of the top 30 players on the official PGA Tour money list will convene at the 7,154-yard, par-70 layout that was built at the beginning of the 20th century, and favored by golf legend Bobby Jones as his "home" course.

With only 27 players in the field, there will be no cut and all competitors will battle through 72 holes of stroke play for the winner's $1,170,000 share of the $6.5m purse.

While world No. 1 Tiger Woods has opted to take a pass on the prestigious event, as has Phil Mickelson, there is no shortage of the world's top talent ready to illustrate the PGA slogan that "These Guys are Good". Topping the odds chart are some familiar names to even the most casual golf observer, notably the second-ranked player in the world with the sneaky snaky swing, Jim Furyk.

Furyk, who surged to the front of the non-Tiger field this season with wins at the Wachovia Championship and the Canadian Open, recorded an even dozen Top-10 finishes this year and heads up the odds list for this tournament at +450 to win. Furyk, whose record also includes eight Top-3 finishes in 2006, is a gritty competitor who grinds with determination and has demonstrated a flair for the dramatic during this, his breakthrough season.

A quartet of foreign players follows Furyk on the odds chart, each of whom has proven they are capable of putting together a winning effort this weekend. South African Ernie Els still has one of the silkiest swings in golf, although the Big Easy has battled injuries and a lack of confidence which have seemingly troubled him all season long. Els is listed at +750 to win.

Vijay Singh is next on the chart at +800. The brooding Fijian with the manic work ethic would like nothing better than to stamp his name on the winner's list for a second time in what, by his standards, has to be considered a disappointing year. Only a win at the Barclays Classic back in June has prevented Singh from falling completely off the radar this year, although close followers of the Tour will quickly point out that - like Furyk - Singh has finished in the Top 10 on 12 occasions this season, including twice in second place. He also won the Tour Championship back in 2002.

Englishman Luke Donald and Aussie Adam Scott are two up-and-comers who could parlay a win at this weekend's event into a real momentum-builder heading into next season. Scott, who missed the cut at last week's Chrysler Championship, is a tantalizing talent who has yet to put it all together on a consistent basis but could easily contend in Atlanta. He and Donald are both listed at +1000.

And finally we find another American on the list, as veteran Davis Love ranks sixth on the odds chart at +1200. At this point in his career, Love is just trying to catch lightning in a bottle like he did to win at the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro a month ago.

Here is the complete list of odds to win the Tour Championship.

Jim Furyk +450

Ernie Els +750

Vijay Singh +800

Luke Donald +1000

Adam Scott +1000

Davis Love +1200

Retief Goosen +1400

Trevor Immelman +1600

Stewart Cink +1600

Joe Durant +2200

K.J. Choi +2200

Geoff Ogilvy +2500

Lucas Glover +2900

Stuart Appleby +2900

David Toms +2900

Chad Campbell +2900

Arron Oberholser +3600

Rod Pampling +3600

Brett Wetterich +4500

Brett Quigley +4500

Zach Johnson +4500

J.J. Henry +4500

Rory Sabbatini +6000

Carl Pettersson +7300

Dean Wilson +7300

Tom Pernice +7300

Ben Curtis +9000